Padstow Parking – Everything You Need To Know

On our first trip to Cornwall, we drove from our home in Wakefield and chose to use Newquay as a base to explore other towns such as Padstow.

However, little did we know how difficult parking in the height of summer here could be.

Luckily, we learnt a lot from our experience trolling car parks for spaces and, as such, wanted to share our knowledge with you.

Each car park in the list below has a bio with opening times, parking charges, local amenities and other notes. As a result, you should be able to find a car park near to where you’re visiting or staying while in Padstow.

Harbour Car Park

Address: Riverside, Padstow PL28 8BY

The Harbour Car Park is unsurprisingly in Padstow Harbour and features a range of restaurants, including that of celebrity chef Rick Stein.

Harbour Car Park is the largest car park in Padstow and given its close proximity to the town centre it’s the best place to park when visiting the town.

Motorbikes, cars and motorhomes are permitted to park here; however, motorhomes are limited to 8am until 10pm, and while there are some disabled parking spaces, there are no concessions.

The cost of parking a car at Padstow Harbor is;

Up to 1 hour – £1.00
Up to 2 hours – £2.50
Up to 4 hours – £3.70
Up to 12 hours – £5.00
Up to 24 hours – £8.00
One week’s parking is also available for £45 should it be required.

While you can pay for parking using coins, we opted to pay using a debit card using the RingGo app when parking here. The app is straightforward to use and is in operation in thousands of car parks across the UK.

Railway Car Park

Address: Station Road, Padstow PL28 8DW

The Railway Car Park is located in front of the National Lobster Hatchery, making it the perfect parking spot if you’re planning to visit this attraction during your trip to Padstow.

However, if you’re not then this car park should probably be your second choice after the harbour since it’s both further away from the town and more expensive.

The parking charges are as follows;

Up to 1 hour – £1.00
Up to 2 hours – £3.00
Up to 3 hours – £4.00
Up to 4 hours – £6.00
Up to 12 hours – £8.00
Up to 24 hours – £10.00

There are a handful of disabled spaces here. However, they can not be reserved in advance and fill up quickly.

There are also spaces for coaches who are limited to four hours and required to pay the coach parking fee of £8.00

Dedicated motorhome parking spaces are also available at the same rate as standard car parking.

When the dedicated motorhome spaces are full, motorhomes are permitted to park in coach spaces provided they pay the coach fee and adhere to the coach’s 4-hour maximum stay.

However, much like the Harbour Car Park, motorhomes are only permitted to park here between 8am and 10pm.

Sadly there are no dedicated motorbike parking spaces at the Railway Car Park. However, motorbikes are permitted to park in a standard car parking space.

In this case, the standard parking rate is required, although multiple motorbikes can be parked inside a single car parking space provided no obstruction is caused.

Lawn Car Park

Address: School Hill, Padstow, PL28 8EB

If both the Harbour Car Park and the Railway Car Park have no remaining car parking spaces, I’d look to the Lawn Car Park, which is just off the B3276.

The council runs the Lawn Car Park, and therefore the parking costs are the same as the Railway Car Park;

Up to 1 hour – £1.00
Up to 2 hours – £3.00
Up to 3 hours – £4.00
Up to 4 hours – £6.00
Up to 12 hours – £8.00
Up to 24 hours – £10.00

However, this car park is our third choice since it’s at the very top of town, making it roughly a ten-minute walk down to Padstow Harbour.

Given that the rules and regulations of this car park are the same as the Railway Car Park (since they are both run by the council), the only reason you might look to choose to park at the Lawn Car Park is if the Harbour Car Park and Railway Car Park are full.

There is roughly the same number of disabled spaces at the Lawns Car Park as at the Railway Car Park.

However, since this car park’s location is slightly further out of town, the availability of disabled parking spaces is often slightly better than the Harbour Car Park and the Railway Car Park.

There are spaces for coaches who are limited to four hours and required to pay the coach parking fee of £8.00

Dedicated motorhome parking spaces are also available in this car park at the same rate as standard car parking.

When these spaces are full, motorhomes are permitted to park in coach spaces provided they pay the coach fee and adhere to the 4-hour maximum stay for a coach.

Once again, motorhomes are only permitted to park here between 8am and 10pm.

Sadly there are no dedicated motorbike parking spaces at the Lawns Car Park. However, motorbikes are permitted to park in a standard car parking space.

In this case, the standard parking rate is required, although multiple motorbikes can be parked inside a single car parking space provided no obstruction is caused.

Link Road Car Park

Address: Link Road, Padstow, PL28 8AY

Link Road Car Park is one of the furthest car parks from Padstow town, situated at the top of a steep hill around fifteen minutes from the harbour.

We’ve never had to park here since we’ve always found a parking spot in one of the three other car parks listed above.

However, this is always a ‘good to know’ location, especially in peak season when availability can be scarce.

The parking charges are as follows;

Up to 1 hour – £1.10
Up to 2 hours – £2.20
Up to 3 hours – £4.10
Up to 4 hours – £5.20
Up to 24 hours – £6.30
One week’s parking is also available for £43.95 should it be required.